High fashion brands have always enjoyed hosting exclusive events, from couture catwalk shows to extravagant parties. And, naturally, most happen behind closed doors for the privileged few. VR is starting to change this elite-only access, however. "Virtual reality allows anyone to experience that world," says Henry Stuart, CEO of VR studio Visualise, who argues this is one reason VR is finally being embraced by the world of high fashion.
Recent examples include an autumn 2015 show from Rebecca Minkoff which was filmed for VR, viewable via the Google Cardboard headset; Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia, meanwhile, created a 360° experience in partnership with VR agency YouVisit. The film provided never-before-permitted access to the runway as well as global exposure for fledgling designers.
And with VR, locations could soon get a good deal more exotic than Russia, explains Stuart. "You shoot the whole thing against green screen and then, once in the VR setup, the models could be walking along a platform on a space station, or over a glacier, or through the Amazon."
But apart from allowing impossible backdrops, what does VR add to the catwalk experience? Being shot in 360 degrees means anyone wearing the headset can rubberneck as well as the rest of the front row, and looking up could reveal behind-the-scenes photos or notes on the collection. It's an evolving medium, but one might expect a blending of social media updates and comment that seamlessly mixes with the live footage.
This kind of immersive experience isn't just limited to catwalk couture, with global brands happily dipping a toe into the world of VR fashion shoots. In 2014, Elle magazine partnered with Jaunt to produce a VR cover shoot for readers to watch on Google Cardboard, and Visualise teamed up with lifestyle website Refinery 29 to produce a multi-city 360° fashion shoot for Samsung's Milk VR app. Even Sports Illustrated produced a three-dimensional shoot for this year's Swimsuit issue.
The retail space also looks set to benefit from VR. Tommy Hilfiger has recently introduced Samsung Gear headsets in many of its flagship stores, and Topshop, an early pioneer of VR, teamed up with agency INITION to livestream high-definition footage of its autumn/winter 2014 show to shoppers using Oculus headsets in its Oxford Street store.
VR headsets, although technically dashing, are not known for their supermodel looks. But this too is changing: in 2015, Dior unveiled its own make-up-orientated headset, "Dior Eyes", 3D-printed by DigitasLBi Labs France.
"I'd love to see a tie-up with a big fashion brand and Oculus," says Stuart, but he concedes: "It needs some brave brands to lead the way." And whereas VR has one foot on the catwalk, there's still some way to go before it becomes the darling of the global fashion scene - but it won't be long before the fashion world is at least experimenting as an industry with this technology.
Moving from 2D sketching to designing in fully immersive 3D could reinvent the way the fashion industry creates clothes. "Since you're not limited to the laws of physics in VR, you can walk around your design in space, you can see through and even storyboard your designs," says Phil Chen, originator of HTC's Vive project and managing partner at VR and AR seed fund Presence Capital. Enabling designers to think three dimensionally should also help further the development of 3D-printed garments and the adoption of new fabrics.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
